


Acheron

by Somnifery (somnifery)



Series: Alcione [2]
Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-16
Updated: 2018-09-27
Packaged: 2019-07-13 04:34:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 44
Words: 13,124
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16010393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/somnifery/pseuds/Somnifery
Summary: In the aftermath of the Red War and the Traveler's awakening, Tamzin and Kedric try to find their new normal in the system's unending war. As Tamzin becomes a Vanguard spy, Kedric discovers his family is in danger.They'll sacrifice everything to be together, but Tamzin doesn't know just how much she has to lose.





	1. Chapter 1

She can see the edge of the world from up here.

The hot wind blows at her visor, and for a moment, she wishes she could feel it blowing through her hair. Mercury has nothing but an exosphere, though, and she doesn’t fancy burning her lungs out. Not today, at least.

She shifts her grip on the sniper rifle, holding her breath as she calculates the wind speed and direction, tracking the fluttering Vex banners with her prosthetic eye.

 _Click_.

She pulls the trigger on an empty chamber, imitating the sound of a true shot beneath her breath.

“Kestrel, come in.” Ikora’s voice crackles on the comms, and the Warlock lowers her rifle, closing her eyes against the bright glare of the sun.

“Kestrel here.” Stupid code name, in her opinion, but at least it’s not something moronic. Something like _hotshot_.

“What are you seeing?”

“Lots of Vex activity for half a planet. Nothing particularly exciting, though.”

Ikora sounds pleased. “Good. We’ll keep monitoring the situation.”

“Roger.” Tamzin waits for a sign off or orders, pulling several shells from her kit and beginning to load her rifle.

“Lay low until you hear otherwise.”

“Can do.” She lifts her gun, tracking a Hobgoblin, closing her real eye to ease the strain as she focuses.

“Good. Stay safe out there.”

“Don’t worry, mom.” She pulls the trigger, grinning as the shot lands and the Vex shatters into a thousand shards of metal. “I can take care of myself.”

“Guardian…”

“Yes, ma’am?”

“I am _not_ your mother.”


	2. Chapter 2

“Prin’s alright, not that you asked.”

Kedric is sure he misheard that. He lifts his head from his arms to blink at his sisters, eyes still bleary from sleep.

“What? Why wouldn’t she be alright?”

Zee and Jessa exchange an odd look, and he suddenly feels dreadfully awake.

“What happened?”

“Nothing.” Zee cuts off Jessa before she can reply, shoving Kedric’s elbows off the table and ignoring his groans of protest. “She’s working with the Regent now. She’s perfectly safe.”

“Well, I assumed she was safe, until you yelled at me for not asking about her.” He frowns at the plate Zee practically throws in front of him, accepting a fork and starting to pick at his food. “Didn’t realize I had to go down the list of relatives before I could sit down in my own home.”

“In Mom’s home, you mean. There’s been- Shut up and let me talk, Zee- There’s been some weird stuff going on since the war. A lot of Corsairs have gone missing, including her last squad. If Prin hadn’t transferred divisions before the evacuation…”

Zee scowls, but doesn’t try to interrupt again.

Kedric feels uneasy, somehow, as if he’s not being told the whole story. He wishes they’d waited until he’d eaten. Worry seems to ruin the taste of home cooking.  

“Has anyone mentioned if we’ll have to evacuate?” He looks between his sisters as he chews, seeking any twitch that might betray some concern- or a lie.

“We’re on the far edge of the Reef from the Dreaming City. There’s no way we’ll be facing invasion before the others, unless some new aliens decide to try their hand at our system.” Zee shrugs.

“And the Queen didn’t spend much time here, so I doubt we’ll see a lot of trouble from other factions, while we’re at it.” Jessa begins braiding her hair, as if they’re discussing the weather instead of a war.

“Other factions?”

Zee and Jessa sigh in unison. Kedric feels a twinge of annoyance at the familiar synchronicity, a relic of their childhood conflicts.

“We don’t know as much as we think we do. It’s probably better not to spread any rumors.” Zee declares, and Jessa nods.  

“Just be careful, if you go back out there. Keep your comms open. And...” Jessa hesitates, worrying her lower lip with her teeth as if debating what she’s about to say. “Don’t forget that Petra Venj is the Regent now. As long as Prin’s serving her, that’s the family loyalty.”

“Well, of course. What other loyalty is there?”

They won’t answer.

Kedric doesn’t feel hungry anymore.


	3. Chapter 3

“Whoa!”

The redhead comes barreling out of Ikora’s library like a bat out of hell, slamming into Shiro-4’s side and sending him reeling. He barely manages to keep them both upright, one arm catching the wall, the other hooking around his accoster’s waist to heave her back onto her feet.

“Are you okay?”

The Warlock’s face is nearly gray, and she only stammers something that could be an apology before finding her balance and dashing away.

“I am so, so, so sorry, Ikora--” Shiro turns at the sound of a distressed Ghost’s voice, high-pitched and anxious. The little orb is bobbing around the Warlock Vanguard like an erratic moon. “I don’t know what got into her! She has no manners, I’m sure she deserves any reprimand you decide to give her-- And oh, sir, are you alright?” The Ghost comes zipping over to Shiro, scanning him anxiously. “Oh, thank goodness, no damage-- I’ll go get her, I’ll make sure she apologizes for this, don’t think I won’t!”

“Rho,” Ikora interrupts the high-strung little thing, voice calm as ever. “Be gentle with her. She hasn’t done anything to earn punishment from me.”

“You don’t have go easy on her!” The Ghost insists. “She’ll never learn. To think you’d give her such an opportunity, and she’d throw it away--”

“She said she has to think about it. Not that she’d refuse.” The Vanguard seems to hesitate for a moment before continuing, likely imagining the berating the Ghost is about to give her Guardian. “Go to her.”

Rho dips in acknowledgment before vanishing.

Ikora is standing in the door to her office when Shiro turns back, wondering if he ought to come back later. She gives him a faint smile.

“Don’t hold it against her,” she advises. “Tamzin is just a bit rattled.”

“By what?”

“The possibility that she’s meant for greater things.”

Shiro has to admit he’d be rattled too, if Ikora came at him with some of her deeper mystical shit. He knows better than to tell her that, though.

“What happened to…” He taps his temple, jerking his head in the direction of the Warlock’s flight.

“An augmentation. She was fighting the Hive when the Traveler was captured.”

Shiro shudders at the idea of facing those monsters without his Light.

“Right. Report for you, though.” He forces himself back to the task at hand, pulling a drive from his pouch and placing it in Ikora’s open palm. “Cayde said you’d have more use for the intel than he does.”

 


	4. Chapter 4

“Prinali Zao,” Petra snaps. “If you tap that screen one more time, I will break your hand.”

Prin freezes mid-tap, grimacing. She lets her hand fall to her side.

“Yes, ma’am.”

She just wants reports to get here. Not that tapping at the monitor will speed up the news, but it _feels_ productive.

More productive than whatever they’re doing here.

Petra is staring at the reports from the past week, trying to parse something useful from the hodge-podge of information. Refugees, raiders, the Shore, the Prison, Earth, a thousand things that may or may not be relevant to the Awoken, may or may not be the straw that shatters their tenuous hold on survival.

After a long silence, she glances up at the Corsair. Prin’s hands are in fists at her sides, suppressing her nervous energy, and Petra’s gaze lingers there for a moment before going to her face.

“Any word from your brother?”

It was meant to relax her, and it worked- to an extent.

“Yes, ma’am. He went home for a few days. My sisters said he’s doing well.”

“That’s good to hear.”

Petra shuffles a few papers around, but the rearrangement doesn’t seem to satisfy her. She sits back with a loud sigh.

“Would you like to be Regent for a day, cousin? You love this sort of work.”

Prin smiles, some of her tension easing at the familiarity.

“If you’d like the reports organized by word count and sender, I can certainly help with that. Leadership was never one of my talents, though.”

“That’s not how I remember it.” Petra scoffs. “You always had a little flock of followers. When you were in school, when you were a cadet…”

“If I may, ma’am, you’re confusing leadership with popularity.”

“I may be.”

The Regent sounds thoughtful, but she doesn’t elaborate.

Prin simply stands by, staring at the monitor, waiting for the telltale blip of incoming reports.

Maybe if she taps the monitor, refreshes it, just _one_ more time...

Petra stands up sharply as Prin begins reaching for the screen, and the Corsair flinches. Instead of coming over to break her hand, though, the Regent is stretching, her arms above her head.

“This isn’t accomplishing anything. I’m going to go check in with Variks. Could you…?” She waves a hand at the mess of documents on the table.

Prin grins, already alphabetizing the reports in her mind. “Absolutely, ma’am.”


	5. Chapter 5

The top of the Tower is a pain in the ass to reach, and that’s exactly the way Tamzin likes it.

Since the attack, her perch of choice is the top of a slightly smaller Tower, but it works just as well. Nobody knows she’s up here, and nobody can bother her. She can lose herself in the roar of the cold wind, find a place to think with the chaos of the city far below her.

Or, on nights like tonight, she can sit up here, legs hanging off the edge, paralyzed by anxiety, replaying the moment Ikora asked her to be one of her Hidden a thousand times in her mind.

She’ll probably freeze to death by the time she figures out what to do.

“Jeeze,” a voice breaks into her thoughts, and she jumps so high she nearly falls. An Exo is heaving himself over the ledge behind her. “I get wanting some privacy, but this is a bit much.”

Tamzin stares at the scout as if he’s got two heads.

“Uh… Can I help you?”

Shiro-4 brushes himself off, dropping a satchel beside her with the soft clink of glass. “You looked like you were having a rough day earlier. Figured I’d make sure you weren’t up here crying or something. See if you broke anything slamming into me earlier.”

“Oh.” Tamzin feels the heat of a blush in her cheeks. “Sorry about that.”

“Don’t worry about it. You seemed upset.” He sat down on the other side of the bag, casually taking off his wrap and setting it between them. “And I’m in town for the night, so I figured I’d see the sights.”

“This isn’t exactly a tourist spot.” Tamzin can’t help staring at that discarded cloak, suppressing a shiver.

“Yeah, probably chilly if you’ve got skin. Great view, though.” He pulls a bottle out of the satchel, pretending to ignore her. “You can borrow that, if you want.”

“...Thanks.”  She tugs it over, draping it over her shoulders and pulling it tight. It does help ward off the cold. “I’m Tamzin.”  

“No problem. Shiro-4. Nice to meet you, Tamzin.” He finally has the cap off whatever he pulled out of the bag- A bottle of liquor- and he’s offering it to her. “For your nerves.”

“You think that’s going to help?”

“Well, it can’t hurt.”

Tamzin takes a sip, wary. Then she tilts it back again. Shiro watches her gulp, wondering if she’s going to drain the whole thing, but she lowers it with a gasp, holding it out to him.

“She wants to give me a promotion.”

“Yeah? You must be good.”

“Not that good.”

They sit in silence for a while, watching the lights of the Traveler dance over the mountains beyond the wall.

“I’ve known Ikora for a while.” Shiro speaks carefully, considering his words. “She’s a good judge of people. Skills and character.”

“She scares the hell out of me.” Tamzin confesses. “She’s always on me about making friends, finding a fireteam. Or at least, she used to be. First nothing’s good enough, and then suddenly I’m promotion material?”  

“Kid… We don’t need an army made of clones of that hero of the Red War. We need all types of fighters.” He passes her the bottle again, watching her drain the last of it. “Even snipers who can drink rum like fish.”

Tamzin looks at the empty bottle with a dismay before throwing it, out, away from the wall, watching it vanish into the clouds to shatter on the rocks below.

“You looked me up before you came up here,” she observes, tone accusatory.

Shiro laughs. “I might’ve asked a few questions, but come on. Sole survivor of a Hive swarm, no Ghost to save you? That’s the kind of story that gets around.”

“I wasn’t the only survivor.” She sighs, as if she’s corrected this story a few too many times before. “A Titan named Gaelen got out, too. He just left me to go fight on Titan and get killed by Hive there instead.”

“You don’t sound too torn up about it.” 

“Yeah, well, he left me for dead. He told Zavala I was dead. He found a medic to dump me on so he’d feel less bad about it, then bailed as soon as he could.” She took the second bottle from his bag, wrenching it open and glaring into the neck before swigging from it. “So fuck him.”

Shiro can’t really say that’s unfair, and it’s not his place to tell her how to feel. He just waits, looking at the mountains and the night sky.

“Maybe I would be a good spy.” Tamzin finally breaks the silence. She brings a hand to her lips, stifling a hiccup before she continues. “I’m invisible. Dead witch walking.”

“You might." He's watching the expression of horror creep onto Tamzin's face as she realizes what she just said. "As long as you don't get drunk on the job and tell everyone you're a spy." 

Tamzin's cheeks are nearly as red as her hair as she peeks into his satchel. 

"Got enough left in there to kill me?" 

Shiro chuckles, pulling out a third bottle and shaking it experimentally. 

“Only one way to find out.” 


	6. Chapter 6

He misses her.

It’s a novel feeling, really. He misses his sisters, his parents, when he’s away, but not like this. He knows they’re always there, in their own way, connected as all Awoken are.

But her?

Her absence feels like a hole in his heart.

_Wait for me._

She’d promised to come back. But what if her Vanguard had forbidden her? What if she died, and that Ghost brought her back with no memory of him? What if-- What if--

But then, a message.

_“Hey.”_

Kedric plays it for what has to be the twentieth time. She’s quiet. Trying to be discreet.

_“Just wanted to let you know I’m okay. See how you are. Where you are.”_

Her voice gets softer on those last words, and he can imagine the little twist to her smile as she says them.

_“Send me a message when you can, okay? I’m working a lot, but I can get away if you can. Just tell me where."_

Where? Here. The Shore. Mars. Earth itself. Everywhere, and anywhere. He’ll go to the ends of the goddamn universe to have her back. He’s waited, because he had to go home, because he didn’t want to get her in trouble, but his family will be fine, and she’s reached out, and there’s no more excuses.

_"I love you."_

He sits in silence for what feels like hours before pressing record.

“Tamzin… How does a rendezvous sound? I’ll send coordinates.”

Tears sting at his eyes, and he nearly laughs at how ridiculous he must sound.

“I love you, too. So hurry up.”


	7. Chapter 7

“Hey. Brighteye.”

Tamzin inhales sharply, pulling herself back to reality. Cayde-6 is crouched in front of her, looking up into her face.

How long has he been there?

How long has _she_ been here?

“Lost you for a second there, kid. Here.”

He puts a mug into her hands, and she stares into it, trying to figure out what it is.

“Drink it. Stole some of Shaxx’s caffeine. It’ll help you perk up.”

She takes a sip. There’s a bit of something… alcoholic in it, but the taste isn’t bad. Helps her think clearly, at least for a moment.

“Am I in trouble?”

Cayde seems surprised by the question, but he has the decency to hesitate, to consider his answer.

“No.” He pats her on the knee, an attempt to be reassuring. “Zavala just wants to know what the hell happened out there. Ikora was worried, too.”

Tam closes her eyes, trying to focus on her breathing.

“Yeah. I guess she would be.”

The Tower still smells like smoke and gunpowder.

It makes her feel sick.


	8. Chapter 8

_Twelve days. Three hours. Fourteen minutes._

“I’m going right back to the Tower.”

She was a liar. He believed her.

Had she believed herself?

_Twelve days. Three hours. Fourteen minutes._

She lost track of how many bullets.

No-- No, she knew the number. But to parrot it felt like a confession that she’d lost it, gone mad, calculating brutality like a Vex mind.

_Twelve days. Three hours. Fourteen minutes._

Twelve days to kill every single Hive beast in that godforsaken complex.

Three hours to find the old fuel storage.

Fourteen minutes to climb out, covered in slime and gore, rifle slung over her back, retrieved from the place she’d fallen so many weeks ago.

Five seconds to throw a grenade into the darkness.

An instant for the fire to consume it all.

_Twelve days. Three hours. Fourteen minutes._

Her flesh and bones burnt away.

She felt clean when she returned.


	9. Chapter 9

Her head hurts, and she can’t stop shivering.

Tamzin feels pathetic. Her body is fine, at last. Her Ghost put her back together. She came back to the Tower. She put her feet on solid ground, and--

And what?

She’s sitting in a chair in Ikora’s library, a mug in her hands, trying not to cower under Zavala’s fierce gaze.

“You have to understand,” Ikora interjects, trying to soften the edge of the Titan’s questioning. “We were told that you had died. To have you show up now, weeks after the Tower has been reclaimed, with… your modification…”

“I told you everything.” She lets an edge of fatigue and frustration creep into her voice. “I don’t know why Gaelen told you I was dead. An Awoken ship took us in and treated me. I wasn’t even awake when he left.”

“Why would he lie?” Zavala’s arms are crossed over his chest, somehow making his presence even larger.

“I told you, I don’t _know_. I dragged that idiot out of a Hive infested tunnels with half of my face hanging off. If I’d known he was going to hop off to Titan and tell you I was dead, I would’ve--”

“I think she’s told us all she knows, Zavala.” Cayde hasn’t spoken for most of the interview, but he cuts in now.

Just in time to keep her from saying _I would’ve left him there_.

“We’re not done here.”

The Titan stares at her, and she returns his gaze, clenching her teeth to keep them from chattering.

“You still haven’t told us where you’ve been since the Traveler awakened.”

To her credit, she doesn’t flinch.


	10. Chapter 10

“You killed yourself.” The Ghost says.

Tamzin glances at the ship’s display, pursing her lips thoughtfully.

“Eight months.”

“What?” 

"You waited eight months to bring it up. Almost to the day.”

Rho takes a long time to speak again.

“You lied to the Vanguard.”

“No, I just omitted the things they didn’t want to hear.”

“And now you’re going to meet that Awoken again.”

“Yup.”

A tense silence.

“She’d never have you for the Hidden if she knew.”

“Tell her, then.”

“... I will. If you do it again.”

“Don’t make promises you won’t keep.”


	11. Chapter 11

_Hidden_.

She’s still not sure if the title is a reward or a punishment, though everyone seems to feel that being one of Ikora’s chosen is the former.

Tamzin knows why she was recruited, though: She’s a loner, and after years at the Tower, never finding a fireteam to call her own, completing mission after mission with ragtag bands who want an eye in the sky and a scope on their enemies, the Vanguard gave up on her.

Kedric tells her to stop being a pessimist, voice muffled as he tastes her skin. 

She sighs, letting him silence her with a kiss.

At least it means they don’t know about Mars. _Yet_.

The Hidden are older, weathered, experienced Guardians, as far as she knows. She’s only met one, and it was enough to demolish any confidence in her abilities. She feels stupid and slow in comparison.

“You get caught, you die.” Chalco had told her, shrugging. “Or cause some kind of mass casualty situation, or the downfall of the city. Pretty simple.”

That was the only lesson: _Don’t fuck up._

“I’m going to fuck something up.”

Kedric digs his thumbs into her shoulders, and she inhales sharply.

“You aren’t going to fuck something up. You’re just watching. For now.” He keeps digging until a knot finally releases, and she can feel a bit of space between the tension in her neck and back. “She wouldn’t give you a job you weren’t capable of carrying out.”

“How would you know?”

“You haven’t shut up about her since we got in bed. I feel like I should be asking for her blessing before I dishonor you.” He pauses in his massage, leaning forward to trace kisses along her spine. “Though I do enjoy making you lose your train of thought.”

“She’d murder me if she knew about us.” Tamzin sighs, leaning back into him. “I don’t think this sort of thing is really… approved of.”

“If she’s as good as you say she is, she probably already knows.” Kedric gives her a soft nip, grinning at her little gasp of surprise. “You just don’t know she does, because you’re a terrible Hidden.”

“Gee, thanks.”

He wraps his arms around her waist, nuzzling the curve of her neck, reveling in her scent.

“You’ll be fine.”

She closes her eyes, letting herself feel safe in his embrace.

“I guess I’ll have to be.”


	12. Chapter 12

_Gunfire._

_A battle._

_Eliksni chatter, echoing off the walls of the Vestian outpost, sharp tones hitting the Throne and bouncing off like glass._

_The sound of the Prince's voice, oddly frightening despite his reassuring words._

_"Don't be afraid."_

_She's terrified._

With a kiss, Prin’s dream fades.

She hums softly as she comes into the waking world, the warmth of her bedmate making the transition from dream to reality a pleasant one. Lia smirks as she opens her eyes, shifting to give her another kiss, this one carrying a faint edge of lust.

“What time is it?” Prin mumbles, stretching, draping her arm around her lover’s waist. Her dream seems distant, already fading into the mists of memory.

“You’ve got time before your shift starts.” The other Corsair replies, running her hand through Prin’s hair, arranging it neatly. “Mine just ended.”

“And you just crawled into bed with your uniform on.” Prin observes, laughing as she realizes Lia’s still got her boots on. “You’re going to have to change the sheets.”

“Later.” Lia kisses her on the nose, mischievous. “I just wanted you to come help me scrub my back.”

“And that’s going to take… two hours?” She pulls up Lia’s wrist, getting a look at the time on the comms display. “How dirty are you?”

“Not dirty enough,” Lia laughs, giving her another kiss before getting up, tugging Prin along. “That’s another thing I want your help with.”


	13. Chapter 13

_Call sign: KESTREL_.

Eye in the sky. A predator, ready to dive to the ground and snatch away some small life below.

She’s not doing any swooping today, though. And she’s not particularly solitary.

Shiro-4 is reading some report, sitting back against the rock face. She’s on her belly, propped up on her elbows, rifle balancing on a stand that’s bare centimeters from a thousand-foot drop.

_Sixty._

Her lips are cracked, but she licks them again. Her teeth tear away a piece of dry skin as the crack of her shot echoes off the mountainside, leaving a minute stripe of blood.

“You’re sure you know the plan.”

Tamzin takes a long, slow breath, lifting her head from her rifle and turning to look at the scout.

“Like I said the first five times you asked: Yeah.”

“You didn’t know it the first three times.”

He has a point.

“I’m hitting the Fallen array in Old Russia. You’re getting the one in the EDZ at the same time. Ikora’s going to be at Tower comms to make sure the tap takes, and you’re on call in case I fuck up.”

“Pretty much, except I wouldn’t consider being on the same continent ‘on call’. You’re on your own.”

“I know.” She reloads, chewing at her lip again. “I can handle it.”

Tamzin isn’t sure if having a Scout babysit her instead of one of the senior Hidden is a backhanded compliment or insult, or just a matter of convenience. She can imagine Rho’s rebuke to that theory, though: _You’re reading too much into it. It’s just more convenient._

“Happen to pack some of that shitty rum?” She asks, propping her chin on the rifle once more. “Better way to pass two hours than taking pot shots.”

Shiro just sighs.


	14. Chapter 14

Kedric sets the ship down gently on the sand, letting her reach full stop before he powers off the engines. 

The Martian night is not a night at all, really- The kind of half-lit twilight of an eclipse, or the months-long un-day he’s heard they have on the Northern parts of Earth. 

He doesn’t need daylight. He just needs enough light to see… Something. 

Freehold is outlined on the horizon. Long-dead skyscrapers, long-dead people, skeletons probably under the sand beneath his feet from centuries ago. 

Under the sand. Under the debris. 

He’d flown by for the sake of curiosity, really. Nostalgia, perhaps. This was the place he’d found her, the place he took her into his arms, brought her onto his ship and brought her back from the brink of death. 

He hadn’t expected to see anything. 

But for some reason, Kedric is standing on the edge of a charred crater. 

“What the fuck,” he asks the empty air. 

It doesn’t have any answers. 


	15. Chapter 15

“This might be the wrong time to bring this up,” Tamzin hisses, the mic in her helmet picking the words up as easily as any shout. “But I don’t actually speak Eliksni.”

“You don’t need to know Eliksni. Yet.”

Ikora sounds like she’s trying to be reassuring.

Tamzin, hanging upside down from a communications array, hoping a Fallen dropship doesn’t happen along and spot her before she finishes wiring this up, is not feeling very reassured.

Especially not with a Captain stalking around with his Vandals and Dregs a few hundred feet below.

“Rho, please tell me if I’m about to be shot.” Tam twists the final wires together, flinching when the copper meets and sparks against her gloves. “Tower, this is Kestrel, are we live?”

“Tower to Kestrel, just one minute.”

The tech sounds as nervous as she does. She waits, forcing herself to breathe slowly through the radio silence. It feels like her heart skips a beat when it clicks back on.

“Kestrel, we have signal.”

Tamzin exhales in relief. “Roger. Comms clear for extraction.”

She lets her legs slip from the beam above, landing in a crouch several feet below. Hunter move, a bit showy, but more efficient than hauling herself back up.

The Warlock gestures to her Ghost, a silent signal. _Let’s get out of here._

The Captain turns, looks up, catching a faint glimmer of light from the corner of his eye.

It must’ve been the sun glaring off the satellites. The metal struts above are empty.


	16. Chapter 16

Prin has a bad feeling about this. 

Being reassigned wouldn’t be an issue, normally. She’s done it before, moved around to help other squads that are spread thin, or whatever other reasons they have for shuffling the Corsairs around. This time, though…

“Ma’am,” Prin feels so disrespectful for asking that it nearly hurts to speak. “Would it be at all possible to stay where I am?”

Petra stops what she’s doing, looking to Prin with a frown. It’s out of character for her to question her orders, and the Regent seems concerned.

“I wish I could say yes, Corsair. Is there something you’d like to tell me?” 

Prin hesitates, but then she shakes her head. “No, ma’am. I just have transfer nerves. Just...” 

_ You don’t get nervous about transfers _ , Petra wants to say, but she just stays quiet, waiting for the woman to continue. 

“Just a bad feeling.” 

“You’ll just be on the Vestian Outpost, Zao. Nothing bad will happen.” 

Nothing like the Taken War, when the poor girl had barely missed being wiped out with the rest of the Corsairs on the Queen’s ship. That would certainly explain her anxiety, though. But the Paladin needs the bodies, and Prin will be more useful there. Not here, sorting reports, looking stiff playing bodyguard to a Regent that's perfectly capable of protecting herself. 

"We'll rotate you out in a month, if you still want a change of station." 

“Of course, ma’am.” Prin stands at attention, turning away when Petra dismisses her with a wave of her hand. 

The feeling doesn’t go away.


	17. Chapter 17

Nightmares.

There wasn’t enough room on the ship.

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?!”

A man beside her is roaring, and his elbow slams into the side of her skull, making her head spin. The crowd is pressing, though- Too dense to let her fall, and they just push her forward again, until she can feel her ribs creaking against the barrier.

“This ship is full.” The soldier repeats himself, shifting his grip on his gun nervously as the press of people surge forward again. “More evacuation ships will be coming. You have to wait.”

“It’s too late!” More screams, more pushing. “They’re going to leave us, that shit’s going to kill us all!”

She feels like she’s going to be sick. She feels like she's going to pass out. 

“They can fit more. Let us on!”

The man beside her is over the barrier, reaching for the soldier’s gun.

There’s a bang.  

She can see the stars through the hole in his chest, once he falls.

When she looks up again, the soldier is a Hive Knight.

There's her reflection, on the hull. She’s in a long coat, armor, splattered in blood.

The soldier snarls at her, three eyes bright.

“Help,” she wheezes as the crowd presses forward, reaching for him, begging him to extract her from the press of panicked people. 

She feels her ribs crack.


	18. Chapter 18

“Shit. _Shh. Shhhh._ ”

Tamzin blinks, wondering if she’s hallucinating.

But no, she’s awake, and she’s staring at the Hunter Vanguard and his pet Guardian, frozen in the middle of the maintenance tunnel like a pair of kids caught stealing dirty magazines.

“… Hi.” She tips one hand, something between a wave and a salute.

“Heeeey. Tamzy! Fancy running into you.” Cayde-6 straightens, tries to look like he’s supposed to be wandering around a neglected area at the base of the Wall at three in the morning. “Just checking the, uh, structural integrity down here.”

“Yeah?” Tamzin looks around at the cracked and damp walls, massive damage left by both time and the Red War. “Not sneaking out?”

“What? I would _never_. I have responsibilities. And—“ Cayde falters, as if he’s just realizing where they are. “And what about you, what are _you_ doing down here, young lady?”

Cayde’s companion stays silent, letting the clown do all the work.

Tamzin’s tempted to snitch to Ikora just to get the Hero in trouble, but she decides to save her pettiness for another night.

Instead, she grins, an uncharacteristically enthusiastic expression. “Sneaking out.”

“Uh-oh.” He laughs, and the tension seems to ease from the space between them all. “Well, I won’t tell if you won’t.”

“Fair enough,” Tamzin shrugs her rifle strap up on her shoulder, tilting her head slightly. “As long as you never call me _Tamzy_  again.”


	19. Chapter 19

“VTOL Cassandra, this is Corsair Unit Malachite. Please come in.” 

Kedric never thought he’d stop being aroused as quickly as he did at the sound of that voice on the radio. 

Tamzin, thankfully, is more distracted by the expression of abject horror on his face, and only lets out a yelp of protest when he practically shoves her off and scrambles to the cockpit. 

“Malachite—“ He paused, taking a moment to try and change his voice before continuing. “Malachite, this is uh, Cassandra. Everything alright?”

“We seem to have a discrepancy on your ship records here. Please ID yourself, pilot.” 

Tamzin is standing in the doorway, the sheet wrapped around her to ward off the chill of space. 

Kedric stares at her helplessly, trying to come up with an answer that might somehow avert this disaster.

“Cassandra. Do you read?” The radio clicks on again, and Kedric flinches. 

“… Cassandra here.” He finally replies. “This is Kedric Zao.” 

The silence on the other end is deafening, and he can practically  _ feel _ the looks being shared on the other ship. 

“Mister Zao, we’re going to need to board.” 

The first officer sounds like she’s barely suppressing a laugh. Tamzin just looks confused, glancing between Kedric and the radio in turn. 

“Please surrender ship controls for remote guidance.”

Kedric turns to Tamzin, an expression of blank panic and dread on his face. 

“Please put some clothes on,” is all he says. “Please.” 


	20. Chapter 20

“Look—“ 

Tamzin lets out a huff of annoyance as she’s shoved onto her knees beside the medic, his oversized tunic the only thing between her nudity and the entire crew of a Vestian patrol ship.

“This isn’t exactly how I thought I’d meet your family.”

“Lia is not my family.” Kedric growls, eyeing the Corsair pacing in front of him.

“Yet.” Lia corrects him, smiling so widely that Tamzin thinks her cheeks might split. “I’m engaged to his sister.”

“Are you going to tell her that I’m in jail before or after the wedding?” Kedric snaps, the sharpness of his tone surprising Tamzin. 

“I haven’t decided yet.” Lia shrugs, glancing to the airlock to see if her superior is still working on the VTOL’s computer. “It would be quite the wedding night gift, though, don’t you think?” 

“Um,” Tamzin cuts in, shifting her wrists in their zip-tied restraints to ease the pressure. “Hi. Lia, was it? I’m Kedric’s friend. Just wondering why I’m under arrest.” 

“Oh, you’re not under arrest, Guardian. We just need you to sit tight for a minute. You make the girls nervous.” 

Lia crouches down in front of her, lifting her visor to get a better look at her face. She has those star bright Awoken eyes, blue as Earth’s sky, pieces of rose-colored hair peeking out of her forehead. 

“You’re cute. Why’re you sleeping with this loser?” 

“I might not be, depending on why I’m not-arrested.” 

Kedric flinches at the words, but she doesn’t look at him. 

“Ah. Yeah, well.” Lia looks over her shoulder again, almost nervously. Tamzin realizes she’s going to snap right back into her cold soldier front when her commanding officer is back on the ship. “This idiot’s flying a stolen ship.” 

Tamzin turns her head to start at Kedric, a painfully slow motion that emphasizes how much trouble he’s in when she gets these restraints off. 

“A stolen ship.” She repeats, tone cold. Her stare is practically burning a hole into the side of Kedric’s head.  “A ship… that’s stolen. From the Reef.”

Lia looks like she just won the lottery. 

“Yeah. It belonged to a dead guy.”  She reaches out, grabbing Kedric by the ear and tugging meanly at it, forcing him to bend to one side despite his protests.  “His sister is going to be  _ pissed. _ ” 

 


	21. Chapter 21

“It was scrap.” 

Kedric hisses at Tamzin, who is staring straight ahead. Her Ghost has decided to make an appearance, nagging at her from the other side. 

“They can’t hold you, you can just leave!” Rho insists. 

“I’m staying,” Tamzin informs the Ghost. “To make sure they don’t execute him or something before  _ I _ get the chance to kill him.” 

“Tamzin,” Kedric pleads. “Darling. Don’t be upset with me, I was going to sort it out.” 

“Kedric,” she finally snaps. “I snuck away from  _ Vanguard work _ to see you. I’m going to be in trouble, I didn’t even get to  _ finish _ , and now you’ve gotten us  _ arrested _ .” 

He looks appropriately chastised, and they sit in silence for several long minutes. 

“If you’d finished, would you still be upset?” 

Tamzin glares at him, twisting in her seat to kick him in the side of his shin. 

“Lia,” Kedric shouts, trying to twist his legs out of range. “The Guardian’s hurting me.” 

“Are you a child?” Tamzin snaps, kicking him again. “She’s not going to help you.”

“She’s right.” Lia is walking down the ship’s aisle to them, bending down to unbuckle the prisoners. “Want to kick him again before we go?” 

Kedric stands and marches along, but Lia grabs Tamzin by the arm, turning her and releasing her restraints with a tap. “No hard feelings?” 

Tamzin rubs her wrists, more in irritation than true discomfort. “Undecided.” 

“Well, if you want to stick around for a bit, once my shift is over…” The Corsair smirks, leaning over to speak right against Tamzin’s ear. “I could help you finish.” 

The Guardian’s furious blush has Lia grinning all the way off the ship. 


	22. Chapter 22

“I can take care of it. I can.”

“Just take it.” Tamzin swipes the display, and the glimmer transfers out of her account.

Kedric’s sister looks like she’s been forced to swallow a Hive grub.

“That settles the problem, then.” Lia stands a professional distance from her fiancee, but her glee is still apparent. “Kedric is free to go.”

“Kedric,” Prin finally speaks, albeit through gritted teeth. “May I have a word?”

The medic pales, shaking his head. “Ah, no. No, I have to get Tamzin-- The Guardian-- back to her ship.”

“Oh, I can wait.” Tamzin keeps her tone light, crossing her arms over her chest. “Family first, and all that.”

Lia continues smiling at the Warlock as the siblings make their way to a secluded corner of the hangar. The two women pretend not to watch, but both flinch at the sound of a slap, followed by a loud protest from Kedric-- and another slap.

“They’re a very close family,” Lia explains, as if Prin isn’t raising her voice in a sermon about shame at that very moment. “Their parents are always working, so the sisters and Kedric spent a lot of time together.”

“That sounds nice.” Tamzin glances toward the Zao siblings, raising an eyebrow at the sight of her lover cowering to his willowy sister. “So, you and…?”

“Prin.” Lia’s voice brightens as she says the name, and Tamzin has to smile at the obvious affection. “Yeah. She’s lovely, once you get to know her. And she’s not anti-Human or anything like that,” she rushes to add.

“Yeah?” Tamzin inhales slowly. “How about Guardians?”

Lia hesitates, then laughs, nervously.

“They’re fine, I guess. But she’s never met one that seduced her baby brother, so.” She shrugs.

Tamzin tilts her head to one side, stretching out her neck and closing her eyes.

“Yeah. I guess.”  


	23. Chapter 23

“Doctor.” 

He won’t wake up.

“Doctor.” 

Kedric shakes him again, but the only movement is more blood floating out of the wound in his chest, morphing into grotesque bubbles in the vacuum. 

He died when his suit was torn open. Kedric knows this, in some part of his mind, but he cannot stop himself. 

He has to wake him up. 

The battleships are gone, and they are alone in a field of debris, two bodies among hundreds. The only thing keeping Kedric from becoming one of these corpses is his tether to the VTOL, and he suddenly feels the fragility of it as he reaches down-- 

Releases the tether from the dead doctor.

Lets him slip away, trailing blood like grotesque balloons.

Kedric drags himself back to the ship and closes the airlock. 

He lays on the floor, and lets himself weep until he knows nothing more. 


	24. Chapter 24

“Cassandra,” he addresses the ship, but she doesn’t respond. Garbage voice recognition software. Spite. 

Stupid. An AI can’t be spiteful. 

“Computer.” He tries again. “Status on all systems, please.” 

It’s not as bad as it could be. Life support is fine. Engines, sufficient. Sanitation… 

He pretends not to see the blood smeared across the floors, the walls. Not yet. His mind simply won’t accept it, even when his feet slip on the still-slick gore. 

“Start repairs on internal damage, please.” His voice is hollow. It sounds foreign, even to his own ears. “Advise when we’re in flight condition.” 

He tries to wipe a bloody handprint from the wall, but it’s dried, and his own hands are dirtier. 

The clock seems to be broken. A few seconds pass, but when he looks back at the display, it’s counted hours.

Blood, everywhere. Not enough rags. 

“I couldn’t keep up with the decon, sir.” 

Kedric speaks, voice shaking. The emptiness of space does not answer, but he looks down, as if he’s been chided. 

“Of course, doctor. I’ll get it done right away.” 


	25. Chapter 25

The dead speak back, and the stars scream. 

Kedric finds an outpost, when the supplies run out, and he has no choice but to refuel if he wants to live. 

He uses the doctor’s credits, and requisitions liquor with the rest of it. 

He stops hearing his voice when the alcohol is in his bloodstream. 

His hands bleed from scrubbing, skin burnt away from chemicals and friction. He pours the spirits onto them, savors the pain of the burn, and goes back to cleaning. 

He scrubs until the blood is gone. 

He scrubs until the varnish comes off. 

“You missed a spot,” The Doctor tells him. “You’re always careless. Carelessness kills.” 

“I know,” he mutters. He rubs his face, his head, trying to bear the ache. “I know. I was careless.” 

He drinks, and he sleeps. 

_Careless_. 

The Doctor’s corpse drifts far, far away. But Kedric will never lose sight of it. 


	26. Chapter 26

“So he gets off with a fine, and gets to keep the ship.” Tamzin finishes with a dramatic sigh, taking another sip of her fluorescent blue drink. “But that Awoken chit decided to be cute and send an ‘apology’ to the Vanguard for the  _ misunderstanding _ , so I get lectured once by Zavala for fraternization, get a high-five from Cayde for ‘getting some action’, and then get lectured  _ again _ by Ikora for not being more discreet with my  _ extracurriculars _ .” 

“An apology. That’s… brilliant. Evil brilliant, but still.” Chalco leans on the bar, taking her time to process the story and the taste of her own drink. “Was Ikora mad?” 

It’s a pointless question, but she wants to hear the read this fledgling Hidden thinks she gets from Ikora. She’s scared of the Warlock Vanguard, and Chalco thinks it’s rather funny. 

“Not really.” Tam shifts uncomfortably on her stool, grimacing a bit. “I think she was more disappointed that I didn’t take care of my mission before, uh…” 

“That’s fair.” Chalco shrugs. “Work before pleasure, and all that.” 

“I know, but it was on the  _ way _ .” She takes a sip that’s more like a swig. “And it wouldn’t have been a problem, time-wise.” 

“Don’t fuck up,” Chalco repeats, holding up one finger, then another. “And never assume you’ll be on schedule.” 

“Thanks,” Tamzin’s tone is dry. “I’ll remember that next time.” 

“Next time?” Chalco tilts her head, curious. “There’s gonna be a next time?” 

The blush is quick to rise to the Warlock’s cheeks, and it makes Chalco smile. 

“I’m letting him stew for a while,” Tamzin finally replies. “But he owes me.” 


	27. Chapter 27

_You saved me._

Kedric brushes the hair away from Tamzin’s face, staring into her mismatched eyes as if seeking the gods.

“You’re still in trouble,” she mumbles. He silences her with a kiss, slow and indulgent.

“I can pay you back,” he breathes. She exhales as he moves, as he gently scrapes his teeth across her throat. He can feel her pulse beneath his lips. “With interest.”

“You have a very high opinion of yourself.”  

He just smiles, kisses her, breaks away to enjoy a moan she can’t quite stifle.

“I hate you.” She gasps, fingers tangled in his hair.

“No, you don’t.” Kedric buries his face in her neck, soaking in her scent. “Never say that.”

Tamzin frowns, pushing him away to get a look at his face. “What’s wrong?”

 _You make me sane again_ , he wants to say. _You chase away my ghosts, the blood, the screams._

“If you hated me, I think my world would end.”

She exhales, slowly, drawing him in for a soft kiss to his brow.

“I don’t hate you. You know I don’t.”

Kedric clings to her like a drowning man.

“I’ll never give you a reason to.”


	28. Chapter 28

She loses track of time, he realizes. 

Kedric feels guilty that this gives him some pleasure. That she’s not entirely well, either. That he isn’t the only one that’s broken. 

She hears things. Not the sort of things he does, from what he can tell. She just shakes her head, brow furrowing, asking if he said something when they’ve been silent for long periods of time. 

It’s worse, when she comes to him after missions. 

“I have to leave soon,” she says one morning, lazing in his arms. “I only meant to stay for a day. It’s been three.” 

He has been stroking her back, and his hand falters for a moment as she says that. 

It’s been nearly eight days. 

When her head aches, at least, he can fix it. He pulls her in, kisses her on the forehead, strokes her cheeks, her hair, holds her close and hums a senseless nursery song until the tension eases. 

“What do you hear?” He asks her one night, after a particularly bad spell. 

Tamzin is silent for a long while before answering. 

“Worries. Fears. Senseless noise.”

The knowledge that one day, he will die. 


	29. Chapter 29

“There’s something weird going on with the Fallen.” Shiro sounds curious, poring over the data on his tablet at an agonizingly slow pace.

Tamzin tugs her cowl up, hoping to shield her cheeks more effectively from the biting wind.

“Like what?”

“That’s the question.” He looks up, across the icy plain. Fallen dropships are audible in the atmosphere, their engines echoing from what could be hundreds of miles away. “I think they’re organizing again. Planning an attack.”

“Any chance they’re organizing somewhere _warm_?”

He ignores the question, turning to face the rising moon. “If they aren’t going to attack us, where are they going to go?”

“The Hive.” Tamzin huffs into the cold, watching her breath turn into fog and drift away.

“The Vex.”

“The Reef.”

The Guardians turn to look at one another.

“Again?”

“Why not?”

She’s looking into the sky, and Shiro has the odd feeling that her concern is more personal than the wellbeing of the Reef as a whole.

“We won’t help them.” It’s not a question. She sounds sad.

“Not our call.” Shiro sighs. “You know Zavala, though.”

Tamzin doesn’t reply. When the scout looks at her again, she’s rubbing her temples as if she’s trying to ward off a headache.


	30. Chapter 30

Thousands of miles away, a prison break is underway.

The sunrise and the lovers watching it on Venus don’t know, or care.

“I have a gift for you.” He kisses her on the ear, a soft, lingering gesture.

“What?” Tamzin seems surprised. “What for?"

“Because I felt like it.” Kedric is amused by her confusion, but he pulls a piece of metal from his pockets, slipping it into her hands and watching her face.

The metal square has been carefully stamped with the sillhouette of a raptor, a bird with outstretched wings, diving to intercept some unseen prey. Tamzin makes a quiet noise of surprise as she runs her fingers over the design.

“What’s wrong?” Kedric asks, sensing a bit of apprehension in the way she holds it.

“I don’t think… I’ve ever really gotten a gift, before. A gift like this, I mean.” It’s an odd thing to admit, likely. She’s had gifts of food, a meal, a drink, but never something permanent.

Never a keepsake.

Kedric feels a tug of pity at her words, but he leans in to kiss her on the cheek, placing his hand over her own. Her fingers are cold, and he squeezes lightly, trying to impart some of his own heat to them.

“I’m honored to be the first, then.” He runs a hand down her side, working to ease her uncertain tension. “And I’ll be sure to give you many more.”

Gently, he unbuckles the Mark from her upper arm, reaching to take the charm from her and turn it, showing her the back. In minute block letters, he’s scratched out her callsign. _KESTREL_.

“Where did you even find it?” He kisses the metal, making her smile, before he starts threading it onto the band. “You couldn’t have made it.”

“Maybe I have a tiny forge in the back of the ship,” he teases. “And I crafted this with metal I smelted with the heat of my love for you.”

“Oh, stop it.” Tamzin’s cheeks are bright red, the same hot blush of embarrassment she always gets when he’s complimentary. She doesn’t like flirtation, he’s noticed. She doesn’t know how to respond to it.

“Never.” Kedric kisses each flushed cheek, slipping the Bond back around her arm and buckling it. “Now I’ll be with you in all your battles. I’ll protect you.”

She frowns, catching his face in her hands and forcing him to meet her eyes. “You don’t need to protect me. I just need you to live. I need you to be here every time I come back.”

He rests his fingers on her wrists, turning his head and brushing a gentle kiss across one palm.

“Stay with me.” It’s barely a whisper, but the words send a chill down her spine. “Come back once, and never leave again. And I’ll live for you forever.”

Tamzin is silent, but he can tell she’s trying to control herself- Can hear the slight hitch in her breathing, as she processes what he’s just said.

“Okay.”

He falters. He’d hoped, but never, ever expected her to actually agree.

“What?”

Tamzin’s biting her bottom lip, watching him for some sign that he regrets the proposal. The sunlight hits her hair as it crawls above the horizon. It makes him think of Mars, as ever, burning red.

“I said I’ll come back.” She feels dizzy, suddenly, as if she’s standing at the edge of a cliff. “I’ll come back. And I won’t leave.”

They don’t hear her radio, the all-points bulletin being sent to all Guardians.

They don’t hear anything but each other.


	31. Chapter 31

Prin is going to die.

She’s narrowly missed being killed at least a half dozen times. She survived the Taken War. She’s the luckiest bitch in the galaxy. At the very least, she’s the luckiest Corsair.

And now, in this corridor, on the Vestian Outpost, with a rifle in her face, surrounded by her dead battalion, the Prince standing above her-

She’s going to die.

She’s thinking about Lia. She hopes she isn’t in the squad that finds them. She doesn’t want her to see her body.

Prin doesn’t close her eyes.

Uldren pulls the trigger.

Nothing happens.

He frowns, realizing the chamber is empty- Smiles, when he realizes she’s paralyzed with fear anyways.

After a moment of consideration, he lifts the gun.

“Looks like it’s your lucky day, Corsair.” He reaches out, grabbing her by the hair, lifting her, forcing her to look into his eyes. “Crawl away. Tell Petra she’s on borrowed time.”

He drops her.

He turns, and begins to walk away, but after a few paces, he stops- Sighs, as if remembering something inconvenient.

She can hear him loading a gun- not the rifle- and her blood becomes ice in her veins.

He turns to face her. He has a hand cannon. “I almost forgot,” he muses. “I need a head start.”  

Prin starts scrambling, trying to get to her feet, but Uldren just clicks his tongue, as if he were scolding a naughty child.

“Don’t be afraid.” He smiles, pulling back the hammer. “And don’t move.”  

She nearly bites off her tongue when the bullet tears through her knee.


	32. Chapter 32

“Cayde’s dead.”

Shiro’s voice is flat, but she thinks she can hear grief there. Sorrow. A resolution.

“How…?” Tamzin starts to ask, but she trails off. Lets the channel go dead.

It stays that way for several long minutes.

“Your transponder says you’re one of the closest to the Prison. The Shore. Ikora’s going to need you on point out there. Getting intel about the lay of things, now that it’s all gone to hell.”

“Why didn’t she call?” A stupid, useless question.

“She’s delegating. Zavala’s not keen on this revenge scheme.”

“Revenge?” Was she seriously delaying her plan to disappear with Kedric, to get out of this world-saving bullshit, to avenge some guy she barely knew?

Even as she thinks it, she feels guilty. They weren’t friends, by any stretch, but he knew her name. He went out of his way to be kind when it mattered. A mug of spiked coffee, a hand on her knee when she was half-mad with shock after the Red War, about to be interrogated by the Vanguard. A hot meal, when she was newly resurrected, a frightened waif in the loud press of the Tower.

He gave a damn, when he had no obligation to.

“Brighteye.”

“What?” Shiro sounds confused, and she realizes she said the nickname aloud.  

“I... I guess I’m in.” Tamzin replies, massaging one temple as she tries to plot her next move. “Tell her I’ll make contact once I have intel.”


	33. Chapter 33

“You can’t go back.” Tamzin repeats, trying to steady her nerves.

“You can’t stop me.” That’s a new line. Kedric seems to be out of patience with this game, this circular debate. “You said you’re leaving to do one more mission. You won’t be here to stop me. My sister is hurt, and I’m going to go see her. I’m going to make sure my family is safe.”

“This is my ship, if you want to play that game.” She’s losing her temper, but she’s scared. “I paid the fine, I paid the fees.”

“I didn’t ask you to do that, Tamzin!” Kedric slams his palm into one of the wall panels. “I didn’t fucking ask you to pay for it. You can’t pull that card on me now.”

“I’ll pull any fucking card I want, if it keeps you safe!” She screams the words, and Kedric starts-- Falls silent.

After a minute, he goes to her, ignoring her half-hearted attempt to ward him off as he wraps her in his arms.

“I’ll be fine.” He tells her, again, and again.

“You don’t know that.”

“I do. And you’ll be fine, too.” He brushes her hair out of her face, catching the beginning of a tear with his thumb and wiping it away. “We’ll be fine. We’ll finish what we have to. And we’ll never have to say goodbye again.”

Somehow, he knows how to reassure her. He seems so certain, and she wants to believe him. She lets him drown out the feeling of dread in her chest.

“Okay.” She nods. “Okay. We’ll go.”

He smiles, and she wants to throw it all away for him, right here, right now.

“In the morning.” Kedric kisses her on the forehead, and she inhales the scent of him, committing it to memory. “We’ll go in the morning.”


	34. Chapter 34

Lia meets him at the dock.

It’s jarring to see her in civilian clothes, but he can tell that she’s been crying. He awkwardly embraces her, and feels his resentment toward her soften as she lets him hold her tightly, provide some comfort.

“Is she okay?” He asks, smoothing down her hair. “She’s gotta be okay. She wouldn’t let a bullet stop her.”

“Yeah,” Lia nods, finally pushing him away. “Yeah, she’ll be okay. She said… She said he ran out of ammo. He was going to kill her, but he used them all on…”

“She’s alive.” He interrupts her, trying to save her from upsetting herself again. “That’s what matters right now.”

He wants to ask a thousand questions about how things ended up this way, why the Prince is shooting Corsairs, where the hell the Regent is in all of this-- But Lia’s his sister right now, not a soldier.

“We’re going to one of the settlements,” she tells him, voice low, before turning on her heel and starting to lead him away.  “We’re getting the hell out of here until things are better.”

“But Petra…”

“She’s chasing the Prince. Uldren is killing anyone who gets in his way, and the ones who bend the knee to him, too. And his Fallen friends-”

Lia shudders, and he isn’t sure if it’s in disgust or fear. He reaches out to put a hand on her shoulder, but she walks faster. She's going to tell him current events, no matter what he says, apparently. Waste of effort to try and stop her.

“He’s fucking lost it, Ked. We won’t be safe here. There’s refugee settlements from the Taken War we can go to. They’re hidden. Safe enough that we can lay low until this passes over. And now that you’re here, we’ll have a medic.”

His steps falter, and Lia stops. She turns to look at him.

She knows. Kedric can see it in the way she glares at him.

“You’re not planning to come with us.” She sounds bitter, but unsurprised.

“Lia… I came to make sure you all get to safety.”

“But?”

He’s silent, but he meets her stare. He doesn’t look away.

“Bring her.” Lia finally says. “Who cares? Bring her along.”

“She’s not--”

“What? Awoken? Alive? Do you think it matters now?” Lia throws her arms out, gesturing at the empty halls around them. “There’s no rules for us now. We’re running away from a collapsing society. Nobody can fucking stop you if you want to bring your Guardian paramour along.”

She’s right. He knows she’s right, and the idea is breathtaking.

“But what about when we come back?”

Lia laughs, a short, bitter sound. “I don’t know, Kedric. I don’t know if we’ll ever come back. But I’m going to abandon my post, and so is your sister, and your girlfriend, so we might as well be deserters in the same place.”

“Shit.” He exhales, not sure what else to say.

“Yeah. Shit.” Lia shakes her head, turning and walking away once more. She doesn’t look back to see if he’s following. “A whole solar system of shit. That’s what we’ve got now.”  


	35. Chapter 35

_One last mission._

Tamzin repeats the promise to herself like a prayer, a chant. She’ll associate it with these rocks, this surreal Reef wasteland, for the rest of her life.

_One last mission._

Hacking into Fallen and Scorn communication links, each new uplink giving Ikora the access she wants. She finds Awoken taps when Rho hacks into the more complex systems. They leave them intact.

 _We’re settled at the new camp_ , Kedric writes. _I’m using the ship to help get supplies to other refugees. Can’t wait to introduce you to my sisters._

Even these chaotic, undead monsters have a methodology, and she sends reports on their movements back to Ikora, until they fall into a pattern the Warlock can use.

 _One more day,_ she replies. _Cleaning up._

“I’m done here.” Tamzin releases the button on her radio, inhaling slowly. She’s watching the Vanguard’s pet Guardian through her scope, a tiny figure on the vast plateau, crawling toward Thieves’ Landing.

Come to the middle of nowhere to play hero, yet again.

“If you’d like to stay and provide support--” Ikora begins.

“I’ll pass.” Tamzin cuts her off. “Takes the glow off the heroism if you’ve got a sniper playing babysitter.”

She can tell that her vitriol catches Ikora by surprise, but the Vanguard doesn’t show her hand so easily.

“Very well. I’ll send you the information for your next assignment.”

“I think I need a break, ma’am. If that’s okay.” This wasn’t the way she’d planned this, but it seems like a good time to start lying.

Ikora is quiet for a long minute, and Tamzin starts to wonder if she’s going to deny the request.

“Very well. Come back to the Tower. We’ll figure things out from there.”

Tamzin turns off the radio, and turns to look at Rho. “Let’s disappear.”

“This is a bad idea.” Rho says, for what must be the dozenth time.

“I know.” Tamzin smiles, and the Ghost feels an odd apprehension at the sight of her joy. “But it’s the best bad idea I’ve ever had.”


	36. Chapter 36

_I’m on a supply drop. Meet me there, and we can go back together._

He’d sounded so happy, so carefree. She’d flown as fast as she could. Excited to see him again, to start their new life. To run, and never look back.

_Come back, and never leave._

This isn’t the way this is supposed to go.

Tamzin is standing on the cliff, looking down into a valley that had been a lovely place, once. She can imagine the camp, with children and rows of sprouting crops, attempts to make a new life in this place.

The only thing that moves now is the fire.

She slides down the sheer cliff, sprinting as soon as her feet touch the ground. She falls, scraping her hands through her gloves, but she drags herself up. Keeps going.

“Tamzin.” Rho is saying her name, trying to get her attention. “Tamzin. Stop.”

The Ghost knows what they’re going to find. She doesn’t want to see the aftermath.

Tamzin feels like she’s been shot in the chest when she sees the ship. She staggers, gasping for air.

“Kedric?” She calls his name, stepping over the body of a Fallen captain, riddled with bullet holes. “Kedric!”

“Darling.”

It’s soft, but it’s there- She turns, feeling a rush of relief.

Relief that bleeds away when she sees him.

There’s a hole in his gut, a gaping wound from the Captain’s blade. She can see his ribs. Blood, trickling out of his mouth, his nose, as he holds his hands over it.

“No. No, no, no.” Tamzin lurches forward-- Falls. Crawls to him on her hands and knees, putting her own hands over his injury, trying to find some way to heal him, but her Light… her Light isn’t enough.

“Tamzin,” he says her name softly, and she looks up. He’s smiling at her. He brings a hand to her hair, and rests it there as he heaves in a shuddering breath. “I waited. I didn’t… want to go without seeing you. One more time.”

She’s numb. Her world is going to fall apart, right here, right now. But he pulls her into his arms, the way he always does, and holds her with what little strength he has left.

“I’m sorry.” She manages to speak, somehow. “I wasn’t fast enough. I shouldn’t have gone.”

“Stop that,” he coughs, a pained, rattling sound. “I have terrible timing. That’s all. It was supposed to be a quick… aid drop. But that’s not important.”

“I love you.” Tamzin’s trying not to cry, but she can’t help it. She wants to beg him not to leave her, but he’s in pain, and he’s hung on this long for her- Suffered, just to see her. “I love you.” _Please don’t go._

“Yeah?” He smiles, and kisses her, and even with the taste of his blood between them, it feels like home. “I love you, too.”

They stay like that for a long time, until his breathing is agony to listen to.

“I think I’m ready… to rest, now.” He whispers, lips soft against her ear.

Tamzin swallows bile, but she pulls her sidearm out. She cocks the gun with shaking hands, and he kisses her again, guiding her arms around him, embracing her.

“I love you. Never forget that.”

“Kedric..." She gasps, bracing herself. "I won't. I love you. I love you. I love--”

The gun goes off.

Tamzin screams.

But he can’t hear her anymore.


	37. Chapter 37

Tamzin wails like a wounded animal, clinging to his body until he’s cold, and the sun has come and gone, and she no longer has a voice to scream with.

Rho can’t rouse her, and at last, she calls the Tower. Calls for help. Someone, _anyone_ , to help her.

“Tamzin,” her Ghost begs, trying to be heard over the sound of her cries. “Tamzin. Please. We have to go.”

She just lays down again, next to what’s left of the body.

Rho would cry, herself, if she could, but all she can do is wait.

Wait, and hope.


	38. Chapter 38

“The state of the Reef’s refugees is not our concern. Investigate the disturbance and then withdraw.” Zavala’s tone is final, and the comms fall silent in response.

The two Guardians just stare, helplessly, at the empty cryopods.

The Titan looks into the distance, where he can see the faint glow of fire on the horizon. A refugee camp, in a small valley, has been burning for a day and a night. A distress call brought them here. The smoke drew them to this field, with several empty pods, and the scent of burning flesh on the wind.

“We can’t…” The Titan starts to say.

“Yeah.” His companion tugs his hood up, summoning his Sparrow. “We’ll go look.”

 

The Ghost that sent out the distress call is there, alone.

The Guardians approach cautiously, looking around at the destroyed tents, the smoldering ruins. The bodies. The Titan moves a piece of collapsed siding, and heaves as he sees a tiny corpse beneath it.

“Fuck.” The Hunter turns to the Ghost, grip tight on his gun. “What happened here?”

“We… We don’t know. An attack. We were too late to do anything.”

“We?” The Hunter interrupts her panicked rambling.

“My Guardian. I can’t… I need help. Please.” The Ghost leads them to the ruins of a ship.

At first, it seems to be two more bodies, smeared with ash and blood. One body, for sure.

One alive, despite herself.

The Awoken man has a hole in him. They can see his spine, ragged, but he has his arms around the Warlock, and she’s clinging to him. He’s smiling, somehow- Dead, and smiling, as if holding onto this girl was enough to take away all the pain he had to be in before he died.

“Hey.” The Hunter steps forward, carefully. He reaches out for the Warlock. “Hey, Guardian. Come away. He’s gone.”

She shakes her head. Holds him tighter.

“No. No. Not yet.”

He sighs, and moves closer, ready to drag her away. “He’s gone. Please, come on--”

The last thing he hears is a scream. It’s coming from her Ghost.


	39. Chapter 39

She burns like a sun, and they die. They’re forced to retreat. Forced to call it in.

“They’re gonna put her down,” The Titan says, voice grim. “They can’t have this kinda shit in the City.”

“That’s not our call.” The Hunter seems tense, tapping at his ship display, trying to find their assist on radar. “And I’m not putting a bullet in some poor girl and her Ghost without some real direct orders.”

It’s nearly a week before someone gets her away from the body, and in the end, it's a lone Hunter who comes to do the job.

Chalco gives the two Guardians a look, jerking her head aside. “Get out of here. I’ve got this.”

They don’t leave, though. They want to see what happens.

“Hey.”

She crouches, speaking lightly, as if the kid isn’t lying in dirt and ashes, half-catatonic in the arms of a corpse.

Tamzin doesn’t answer.

Chalco tsks, reaching out and grabbing the girl by the wrists, pulling her up. She lets the flames of Tamzin’s Light wash over her, not flinching.

"Get it out of your system, kid.”

She lets her struggle, lets her flail against the grip on her wrists until her days of hunger and fatigue catch up, and all she can do is pant, falling to her knees. Chalco pulls her up again, tries to lead her away. Tamzin screams, falling to hold her ground, flames rising once more.

The older Hidden sighs, releasing one wrist and digging into her pouch.

“I was hoping we could avoid this.”

Tamzin is about to pull away, crawl back to Kedric, but the Hunter jabs something into her neck. She gasps in pain and surprise, and the flames dissipate, and the Warlock goes down like a sack of bricks after only a few seconds.

“Careful.” Chalco holds the back of Tamzin’s neck, keeping her head from cracking into the ground as she falls.  “Works a bit faster when you haven’t eaten in a while.”

She sounds almost apologetic, but she still crouches down, hoisting the limp Warlock over her shoulder at the waist and starting for her ship.

Tamzin is trying to fight whatever she’s just been dosed with, but it’s a losing battle. She can’t even move a finger.

She can hear Rho, faintly. “Her heart rate--”

“Don’t help. We need her out, which means keeping it in her system.”

The Ghost says something else, but Tamzin can’t make it out.

“I told you to get the hell out of here,” the Hunter shouts at someone she can’t see. “Show’s over.”

The darkness swallows her. She has no choice but to drown.


	40. Chapter 40

She wakes up in the Tower’s med bay, though she can’t be sure she’s truly awake.

She feels heavy. Ill. The way she felt when her Light was gone, and she was…

_I love you._

She fades in and out.

Rho won’t help purge the drugs out of her system. The Ghost tries to reason with her, but soon she stops appearing at all.

Tamzin is alone.

She breaks free, once. She’s confused, though- Weakened. She falls in the corridor, and won’t let the staff touch her, won’t let anyone near her again, even as blood drips from her brow and into her eyes.

Ikora comes. She is firm, but sympathetic. She does something that seems to suck all the fire out of Tamzin, a dampener on her fury.

The next thing Tamzin knows, she’s back in bed.

Restrained.

“She’s a danger to herself and this city,” she hears Zavala’s voice, distantly. “The fireteam’s report--”

Ikora’s voice, gentle but firm, somehow cutting in. “She is not mad. She is not lost. She is just young, and she is grieving.”

_I want to be mad._

She wants to scream it. But she can’t.

All she can do is sleep.


	41. Chapter 41

“You okay?”

The sedatives have worn off, mostly. She has her eyes closed against the harsh light of the med bay, trying not to see death behind her eyelids. She doesn’t speak. But she does open her eyes.

Shiro’s there.

Seeing him against this sterile background is surreal, and for a moment she wonders if she’s hallucinating, victim of another drug-induced haze.

He reaches out and pats her hand, as if she might bite. As if she could, strapped to the bed as she is.

“You’ve caused quite the stir.”

He keeps his voice soft, as if afraid someone will overhear. They probably are listening- Listening to hear if she’ll talk. If she’s sane. If she’s going to burn this whole place down. 

“Where’s Rho?” Her voice is brittle, dry, and her throat hurts. The Ghost hasn’t been healing her. She hasn’t been around.

“She’s around. You scared her.” He watches Tamzin, and she has the sense he’s trying to get a read on her. “They asked her to let you be, for a bit. Let the drugs calm you down for a while.”

“Drugs.” Piecing it together, one scrap at a time. Chalco, dragging her away. Rho, pleading with her. A needle in her neck. “... They drugged me.”

“Yeah.” He doesn’t sound sorry, truly.  Not the sort of sorry she wants him to be. “You didn’t leave them a lot of options.”

Options. Leave her there. Kill her. For good.

“She should’ve done it.” She closes her eyes again, trying to wet her lips. Her mouth is so goddamn dry.

“No.” She can hear him shake his head. “You’re not a mad dog that has to be put down. You’re strong. You’ll get through this.”

“I don’t want to get _through_ anything.” She can’t keep the bitterness out of her voice, but the slur of her sedation dulls the edge. “I want him back.”

Shiro doesn’t have an answer to that. He just gets up. Fetches water. Adjusts the bed so he can bring the straw to her mouth and let her drink.

“He wouldn’t want you to die.” He sounds more thoughtful than insistent, and it catches her off-guard. “I didn’t know the guy, but I think I know you. And he loved a girl who wouldn’t give up, even if it was all just to spite the entire system and war that put us here.”

Tamzin finally looks at him-- Really looks.

“I’m a selfish bitch,” she says, voice cold, “who acts like the whole system revolves around me. _That’s_ what he loved.”

She wants to say more, but she holds back. She'll get her wish, if she keeps talking. Get a bullet in the skull and a bullet in her Ghost.

Cayde’s not here to save her from herself anymore. Kedric’s not here to take her away from all this.

_I don’t care if this system- the whole goddamn world- burns._


	42. Chapter 42

Rho comes back, at last, when they let Tamzin go back to her own rooms in the tower.

“I’m sorry.” She says, as if that can fix anything at all.

Tamzin doesn’t reply. Just wipes her wet hair from her face. She’s been marched to the baths, and they wouldn’t let her leave until she washed her hair, but it only helped… a little.

She sheds her coat, her pants, her boots. She lies down on top of the bed.

“Tamzin…”

Rho hovers, trying to find the words to rouse her. She can fix anything wrong with her Guardian’s body. But she doesn’t know how to fix this.

“Go away.” Tamzin’s voice is soft, but flat. “I don’t want you here right now.”

Rho draws back, as if she’s been slapped. After a few, indecisive minutes, she fades away.


	43. Chapter 43

The Vanguard treats her like a breakable, volatile thing.

She can’t blame them, but it grates on her as time goes on. She doesn’t have her flight privileges. She can’t go into the City. She can barely leave her room without someone conspicuously appearing to “keep her company”.

“How are you feeling?” Ikora asks after a few weeks, once Tamzin has started getting out of bed and trying to wander.

“Trapped.” She knows that’s not what the question was really about, but it’s honest enough. “When will I be out of crazy Guardian jail?”

The Vanguard doesn’t look particularly thrilled with her word choice, but she doesn’t argue with it. She pours a cup of tea. Slides it across the desk to Tamzin.

“When you’re ready.”

Tamzin stares into the cup, watching the leaves swirl and settle to the bottom.

“Can I compete in the Crucible?” She surprises herself with the question.

Ikora studies her, trying to divine something from Tamzin’s careworn face. After a long minute, she nods.

She’s decided something. Tamzin doesn’t know what, and she’s not sure if she cares to.

“I’ll speak to Shaxx. If he thinks you’re ready, I think it would be a good outlet for you.”


	44. Chapter 44

“Kestrel, come in.”

Tamzin inhales sharply, the scent of gunpowder and ozone drawing her back to the waking world.

“Yeah,” she replies, clearing her throat before trying again. “This is Kestrel. Sorry, had a Knight a little too close for comfort there.”

Falling asleep on watch isn’t ideal, but she’s been on this job for too long, and the constant sun is starting to get to her. Not that it matters, really.

Nothing’s happening in the EDZ right now.

Rho is hovering nearby, quiet as usual. Tamzin takes a moment to look at her handset, laughing quietly when she notices the date.

“Congratulations,” she says to the Ghost. The little Light turns to look at her, questioning. “You’ve been giving me the silent treatment for a whole year as of today.”

Rho looks down at the handset, then back up at her Guardian.

“I didn’t think you were aware of the dates back then.”

Tamzin smiles, a tinge of bitterness in the expression. “I know some dates.”

She doesn’t have to say more. Rho graciously decides not to press the point.

“Are you feeling better?” The Ghost asks, as if she hasn’t been here the whole time, silent and judgmental.

“Not even a little.” Tamzin replies, voice light. “I just couldn’t stand being in crazy Guardian jail any more. And would you look at that,” she gestures at the open sky, the crumbling city beneath them. “It worked.”

Rho watches her as if she’s trying to get something deeper out from her Guardian’s response.

The Warlock reloads her rifle, leaning down and lining up the shot. She doesn’t use the scope anymore.

“Ikora trusts you.” Rho sounds a bit resentful. “You shouldn’t mislead her.”

“She knows exactly what I am.”

 _What_. Not _who_.

Ikora’s canny. Tamzin knows that now.

The Vanguard watched her in the Crucible in those months after her release. She saw those matches evolve from sloppy, angry, careless losses to ruthless, brutal victories, until all the rage and pain inside of Tamzin was cooled, sharpened into just another weapon for the girl to wield against the City’s enemies. 

“I’m a soulless, endless fucking war god.”

She pulls the trigger. Once. Twice. Three times. Three screams, cut short.

“And I’m going to have blood for what was taken from me.”


End file.
